Sony Triqii

Design

The ATH-ESW9s are swanky looking and feature a slightly better construction overall.

Sony Triqii	Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9

Frequency Response

The ATH-ESW9s go a bit out of the boundaries of our chart, de-emphasizing some of the higher frequencies. While we’re assuming that volume dip has something to do with how beautiful they are, we don’t like how that range is underemphasized. The Triqiis have a bit of a rolling emphasis as well, but nothing is overly dampened or boosted.

Sony Triqii	Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9

Distortion

The Triqiis have quite a lot of low-end distortion.

Sony Triqii	Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9

Tracking

Both sets of headphones have about the same quality of distortion (the ATH-ESW9s use an older version of our graph that shows some junk data at the end).

Sony Triqii	Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9

Isolation

Neither set of headphones do this very well.

Sony Triqii	Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9

Comfort

Neither set of headphones is particularly comfortable, but both are unlikely to cause you serious injury. The Triqiis have foam pads, which are a bit scratchy. The ATH-ESW9s don’t have padding that’s as thick as it should be for how tight they are.

Verdict

Unless you’re looking for incredible audio quality, we’d recommend the Triqiis. The ATH-ESW9s are swanky, but they don’t have the greatest audio quality. If you’re a fine gentleman who enjoys fine things, the ATH-ESW9s are going to win this comparison hands-down. If you aren’t, save yourself the rent money and buy the Triqiis.